


Show your feelings

by Marium



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Actor Dean, Benny gets a few nasty messages from Dean's fans, Best friend Benny, But Charlie fixes it soon, Fandom star Dean, M/M, Matchmaker Charlie, Mutual Pining, Pining Benny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 10:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5123894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marium/pseuds/Marium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Benny is Dean's best friend and is in love with him. The problem? Dean is a fandom star with loads and loads of fans and works with the most charismatic and gorgeous people ever. How could Benny hope for a chance?<br/>Or, the story of how Charlie got sick of waiting for Benny to realize that Dean was in love with him too and decided to help them get together a little faster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Show your feelings

**Author's Note:**

> This is not meant to be angsty, but there is a scene in which some too aggresive fans send Benny mails telling him to kill himself. It doesn't affect him too much, but if that's a trigger for you, then maybe you should be careful while reading this.

The truth was, when seventeen years old Dean Winchester told his best friend Benny that he wanted to be an actor, the first thought that crossed his mind was that Dean wouldn't get far, and the second was the maybe he had a chance but he would have to work really really hard if he wanted to get somewhere. He obviously felt very bad about it and didn't tell his friend anything of the sort because although Dean seemed to want to do it very much he also seemed to be even less sure than Benny about his chances, and he didn't want to discourage him. He fiercely hoped to be wrong, but Dean had never been the sort of person one would think had the potential for that kind of career: he was far better at hiding feelings and emotions than at showing them, how could he show feelings that he didn't really feel?

Still, he hid all of those negative thoughts and supported Dean as much as he could. Dean entered an acting school and spent some years really dedicated to it. One day, there was a casting for a minor role in an action movie and Dean decided to try his luck, and he got rewarded with the role. The bright, wide smile he had on his face when he told Benny the news was something he would never forget.

Dean managed to get another minor role in a similar movie from befriending someone from the staff, and in six months he appeared in three more movies. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Soon Dean's roles became bigger and and he began to receive offers. To say he was thrilled was the biggest understatement ever said.

Benny watched all the movies featuring Dean. They all were named Fast and Furious 23 or something like that, things with too much explosions, too much action scenes and a plot that could be summed up in little more than a line. But he had to admit that Dean looked mighty fine in the movie's wardrobe.

One day, Dean got an offer for a role in a TV show, which he gladly accepted. He was lucky and the character, who was only on a few episodes and then got killed off, was an instant hit with the fans, partly because of Dean's brilliant performance. Now that he was on something with an actual plot, Benny could appreciate that he had indeed been wrong (and never in his life had he been so glad to be wrong) and Dean was a good, hell, a wonderful actor. After he finished his role he got another one, and then another. He went from minor to regular to supporting to main villain and, finally, to protagonist.

If Benny had been impressed before, then he was astounded now: Dean could portray any character perfectly, make people invested in them regardless of their plotline. Benny wasn't ashamed to admit that more than one performance had made him cry. He was always eager to meet Dean and discuss his character, what had happened, ask about what had been going on during the recording and all that.

Sometimes Benny got curious and looked Dean up on the Internet. There was a page called tumblr (he believed he had heard Charlie talk about it a couple times) in which seemingly both Dean and his characters were quite popular. There were loads and loads of posts about him, many blogs dedicated to him and people claiming to be his biggest fan and to love him. That, for some reason, made Benny upset.

He had been Dean's friend since forever. He had liked him before he got famous. He had supported him, believing in him over his own opinion. If Dean had a biggest fan, then that was Benny. And if someone loved Dean, then that was Benny too, dammit.

Because, yeah, Benny was in love with his best friend, had been for a very long time. And that was a big problem, because he was sure any day Dean would tell him about his relationship with one of the many fabulous people he worked with, he was sure of it. All those people were too beautiful, too charismatic, too good to not fall for one of them.

“I don't know, Benny” Charlie told him in one of their weekly meetings to watch Dean's current show, a sci-fi one. “Plenty of actors end up with ordinary people. I'd say you've got as many chances as any of them. No, actually thinking about it, you're the one with most chances, period. Think about it: you're very important to him, his best friend since childhood, your personality fits perfectly with his, and you're not bad looking at all, for a man. I wouldn't be surprised if he was secretly in love with you too.”

“I somehow doubt it” Benny said, putting some popcorn into his mouth and making himself more comfortable into the couch as he watched the screen. Despite the topic, he was rather relaxed except for a barely noticeable frown. “I mean, look at her.” He pointed at the screen. “Dean's told me they really get along and she's gorgeous. What makes you think he won't fall for her?”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Benny, that's what you say _every time_ he makes a friend on set.”

“He did date Anna, didn't he?”

“One case doesn't make a rule!”

“But it does set a precedent. And they're still friends, they could get back together any day! Now hush and let me watch this.”

Charlie almost continued the argument, tell him to just show Dean his feelings, but decided not to waste her energy uselessly. Trying to convince Benny was a lost cause, she had already confirmed that over a hundred times, but she couldn't stand his supposed acceptance of his supposedly nonexistent chances. Of course, she couldn't just skip all the drama and tell Dean because Benny had made her promise to never tell him. If he only knew that Dean had made her promise the exact same thing. Ugh, it was as if they were the romantic side-plot everyone knew would end up together and were tired of waiting for it to happen.

She had put up with enough unnecessary drama. She may be morally obligated not to solve the situation, but that didn't mean she couldn't push the two of them towards solving it themselves.

 

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

 

“Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed doing that, but I'm glad the season's over, it was rather stressful. Now I can relax for a couple months.”

“It's easy for you to say that, you know what's gonna happen next. But us? You left us in a hell of a cliffhanger. You sure you don't wanna tell us what'll happen next?”

Dean shrugged. “So Charlie can upload it online? No, I don't think that's happening again. I got in trouble last time it happened.”

“Oh, I did a good action and you know it” Charlie said from behind her laptop. “By the way, it looks like the entire fandom expects you to suffer a lot in the next season and are thrilled about it.”

“Wow, such loving fans aren't they?” Benny asked sarcastically and rolling his eyes.

“You know they just want to be outraged on his behalf. And don't forget that suffering characters get more screentime.”

“They do” Benny conceded.

“Changing subject,” Dean said after taking a mouthful of Benny's homemade pie, “I felt like doing some theater in the hiatus. I'll be doing Much ado about nothing on Saturday in two weeks, and I've got a free ticket. Would any of you like to come?”

“That'd be lovely, Dean, but I've got plans with Dorothy.” Charlie answered. “But I'm sure Benny would love to. It's one of your favorite plays, isn't it? And you can go to dinner afterwards, the restaurant next to the theater is fantastic.”

The mentioned man glared at her. The fact that in the last weeks he and Dean had been together (and alone) far more often than usual, and that it was mostly Charlie's doing, hadn't gone unnoticed by him. She would suggest that the three of them meet, and call twenty minutes after the meeting hour to tell them something had come up and enjoy your time together, you're welcome; or bring her girlfriend over and focus so much on her that it was almost as if Dean and Benny were alone; any excuse worked to get them to spend time together. He was 95% sure that Dean's choice of play was her doing. Benny had noticed the pattern and had sworn not to give in to Charlie's fiction-based view of the world: Dean and he weren't characters and their relationship wasn't a plotline that would end in kisses and happiness.

But, damn, Much ado about nothing _was_ a favorite of his.

He looked at Dean, who was now smiling at him, expecting. “Umm, I'm not sure I can, Dean.”

His friend's smile fell a little. “Oh, don't worry about it. I'll find someone else.” _Stop looking at me like that, stop looking at me like that_.

Benny tried to stay strong, not to give in to Dean's disappointed face. He looked somewhere else and saw Charlie, who was glaring daggers at him. He looked back at Dean and yep, he was still looking sad.

Damn it. “Actually, I think I can.” He acted as if he was thinking hard about it. “In two weeks, you said... Yes, I'm free that night.”

Dean's smile came back stronger than ever. “Great.”

 

 

“You didn't do it as bad as I thought you would” Benny teased as they began eating. The restaurant Charlie had told them about did seem like a really great place, but it felt too much like a date place (which was surely Charlie's intention) to be comfortable, so they went somewhere else a little less romantic, where seeing two people together didn't make people think 'date'.

“Shut up, I was fantastic and you know it.”

“Yes, you were” the man conceded with a little smile. “But it was just 'cause you got Benedict, and you'd have to try real hard to ruin that character. So, not your achievement.”

“You love me and you know my acting is brilliant” Dean said biting into his burger.

“Don't be so sure” Benny said still teasing.

Dean brought his hand to his chest dramatically. “Oh, Benjamin, my friend, why must you hurt me so? I loved you and I trusted you, and now you have betrayed me.”

Benny rolled his eyes and focused on his food. He looked down at it, partly to know what he was poking with his fork, but mostly to hide his face. He knew Dean didn't mean it like that and that he was joking, but to hear him say that he loved Benny, it made him blush sightly and his heart fasten. A fool, that was what he was, a fool.

He thought that after dinner they would part ways, but Dean said he felt like walking in the park and if Benny would like to join him. Of course, Benny's heart and mouth betrayed his brain and he said yes.

It was a silent walk. The park was mostly empty, just a few people in the distance every now and then. It was badly lit, with only a few streetlights very separated one from the next providing a golden light, contrasting with the white light from the moon up in the sky.

After half an hour of walking without saying a word, they sat in the grass. Their hands touched briefly and Benny rushed to retire his. His heart was beating madly. Glancing sideways, he saw Dean staring at his hand, the one Benny had touched. His heart beat harder still.

Maybe it was the atmosphere. Maybe it was that all those years of hearing Charlie telling him to make a move were affecting him. Maybe it was just his old romantic spirit. Whatever it was, Dean seemed almost... longing, looking at his hand. Cursing himself, he put his hand back over Dean's.

Dean didn't move. Benny's heart was about to jump out of his chest.

Slowly, Dean looked up and met Benny's eyes, looking both nervous and eager. Without realizing it, Benny had leaned more into Dean's space, and their faces were only a few centimeters apart. And the next thing he knew was that they were kissing.

It was gentle, their lips moving slowly. It seemed to last forever but at the same time not long enough. The kiss ended.

It was cliched, but they didn't say anything then either: they didn't need too, their eyes were enough to say everything they wanted to. They just smiled at each other; they were small smiles that showed more happiness than anything else could. Dean's hand rose to Benny's cheek and the other man mimicked him before kissing him again.

Neither of them said goodbye that night.

 

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

 

Charlie was surprisingly not a smug bitch about having been right about the two of them. Not too much, anyway. When she was told about it, she grinned wickedly and stared at Benny who ignored her, until 20 minutes later he couldn't stand it anymore and bashfully thanked her for her efforts.

What she did do was asking for a few pictures of them undeniably being a couple to compensate her for all the time she had lost in her crusade against their stubbornness. It seemed like a weird request to Benny, but he didn't see the harm in it and accepted. Charlie was positively glowing with excitement behind her camera as she told them the exact way she wanted Benny's arms to surround Dean from behind and the angle in which Dean's neck had to be so Benny kissing it was perfectly visible.

When she was done, she approached Benny and put a hand on his shoulder. “I'm sorry Benny, but it was going to happen anyway and as your friend it is my duty to announce the news myself. I promise they will take it better if it comes from me: You see, I'm kind of famous in the fandom, I think I can influence them a bit. Call me when the first one arrives, OK?”

Benny didn't understand anything. He looked at Dean, who seemed just sightly less confused than him. “I think she was saying she's going to post those online. For my fans.” He explained after Charlie was gone.

Indeed, the next time Dean went to a convention, which was only three days later, he was shown the pictures and asked about them. Dean told them that they weren't manipulations and that Benny was an old friend who had recently become something more. He had a wide smile on his face the whole time.

When Benny checked his e-mail next morning, his eyes shot open. He read the messages. Then re-read them. He stared at the screen for a couple minutes, processing it. He suddenly thought that this could be what Charlie had told him about, so he grabbed his phone and called her.

“Benny, I hope it's important, you woke me up” she said in a cranky voice.

“Charlie, I've received quite a few... messages. They're telling me to kill myself.”

He heard a noise from the other side, as if Charlie had suddenly gone from laying on her bed to sitting on it. “Holy shit, they located you faster than I expected. I'll be there in forty minutes.”

Forty minutes turned out to be twenty. Benny asked her how many people she had run over on her way, but she ignored him and went to his PC, checking the messages. Her nose wrinkled. “Nasty. And very badly written. Give me ten minutes” she said and started working on it so fast that Benny could barely see her fingers moving. When she finished she said: “There, I've blocked them so they won't be able to message you anymore, and hacked their tumblr accounts to delete them. Serves them right.”

“That's great and all, but I'd like to know what all that was about.”

Charlie sighed and went to the couch, Benny following her. “Alright, so the thing is, fandoms are great and fantastic and all that but they do have their bad parts” Charlie began. “Some people are really, _really_ aggressive about the things they like, and I guess those people who messaged you want Dean to be with someone else.”

“Wait, is this about the relationship things you talk about all the time?” Benny asked, bringing a hand to his chin. “What was it called? Sailing? No, I think it's shipping, isn't it? Anyway, that's 'bout characters, right? Dean's not a character, he's an actor.”

Charlie shrugged. “Doesn't really matter. He's nice and a lot of the fans like him as much, if not more, than his characters. And when a ship is popular, it's not uncommon to ship the actors too. It's harmless most of the time, but some fans are, like I said, really aggressive, and think that the actors are really in love just because they want them to. They must think of you as an obstacle.”

“So you're telling me that they wanted Dean to get involved with someone from the cast, and they're angry with me 'cause he's with me instead” Benny said slowly, not sure of having gotten it right. Charlie nodded. “Then they're nuts” he declared firmly.

“A little bit, yeah. But don't think everyone's like that!” She rushed to say. “Most of them are overjoyed. They say you look adorable together. They've been asking me about you two, I think I managed to convince a good part of them not to hate on you. I think there's fanart already, and fics too!”

“I don't know if I want to know what that means. But the important part is that they'll stop in a while, won't they?”

“Well, I can't guarantee it'll stop completely, but they'll get over it in a couple weeks at most. You're lucky you're a dude (oh, it'd be 20 times worse if you were a woman), because they like that kinda thing, so I think it'll be OK.”

Benny stared at her for a moment, then sighed and shrugged. “I don't get it, but I'll trust you.”

Charlie spent the rest of the morning searching for things with Benny on them and showing them to him. Like she said, there were a couple of drawings and stories – which were basically porn. Benny felt his face go burning red as Charlie read them aloud for him to hear.

“And Benny” Charlie said before she returned to her house “, don't let them get to you. Ignore everything they say. If they say Dean 'deserves' someone better (which means someone they want), don't listen to them; if they say you have to change anything or tell them more about your relationship than you are comfortable with sharing, tell them to go fuck themselves. You and Dean are happy together the way you are, and that's what matters.”

Benny grinned widely at her. “I know, Charlie. Thank you.”

 

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

 

Dean and Benny were enjoying an evening together. Dean was sitting on the couch, looking at Benny with a content smile, while the man was lying on it, with his head on his boyfriend's lap and reading a book. Dean caressed Benny's hair, and Benny, after closing his book, took the hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it. As he did so, his eyes caught sight of Dean's watch and his eyes opened sightly.

“Dean! We're going to miss the episode!”

“I don't care. I'd rather spend all evening like this. It's not a great one either, really.”

“Well, I do care. And we agreed that you have no say on whether what you do is good or not. According to you, nothing you do is great. Gimme the remote.”

Dean handed it to him and Benny turned the TV on, just in time to catch the show's intro. While they watched it, Dean provided commentary and Benny hummed in response as he watched it and played with Dean's hand.

“Ha! Now Charlie can't say I was imagining it! I knew you were in love with her!” Benny shouted excited as Dean's character confessed his love for a woman as he begged her not to die. “Dammit, that's touching. I'm gonna get jealous.”

Dean smirked down at him. “If it makes you feel better, I was thinking about you the whole time. I've been thinking about you every time I have a scene like that since I began acting. You're my muse.”

Benny smiled fondly at him. “And you say I'm the sap. That's disgustingly sweet.”

“Don't act as if it bothered you. You love it when I get sappy and say that I love you.”

Benny's smile widened. “Yes, yes I do.”

 


End file.
